Small beers all round as Truman’s Brewery re-established in East London

Small beers all round as Truman’s Brewery re-established in East London

DURING the golden age of British brewing Truman's in East London was producing 200,000 barrels of beer every year. In the late 19th century real ales were pouring out of almost every town and village in the land before a gradual decline in the industry over the next 100 years.

In 1989, faced with stiff competition from foreign lagers and mergers that made rivals stronger, Truman's brewery bowed to the inevitable and closed its doors. Now however the industry is enjoying a remarkable revival.

According to the latest edition of The Good Beer Guide in the last year alone 187 microbreweries have opened for business - and they could also prove to be the salvation of the British pub.

Last week, joining the ranks of new arrivals such as the Mad Hatter Brewing Company in Liverpool and the Robin Hood Brewery in Nottingham, was a familiar name. Two miles from the original site in Brick Lane, Truman's Brewery has re-opened. The new facility in Hackney Wick will produce about 10,000 barrels a year mainly for drinkers in the capital at first.

It's a fraction of the original output but founder James Morgan, a 33-year-old beer enthusiast and entrepreneur, says: "We will be true to the best of the old Truman's principles but also use advances in brewing to create new beers."

They include a porter, a dark style of beer that was popular in the 18th century and gained its name because it was the choice of street and river porters.

Morgan adds: "People have become much more discerning about their beers. There was a period when it was considered sophisticated to drink fizzy lagers which taste more or less the same. Now there is a realisation that there are some fantastic locally produced beers out there which contain quality ingredients.

"In the past it's fair to say there was a degree of complacency but brewers have really raised their game. At the same time pubs are looking for something that resonates with their customers as well as being tasty."

Another reason for the march of the small brewers, sometimes producing only a handful of barrels a week, was the decision in 2002 to give tax breaks to microbreweries. There was a further boost in the most recent Budget when duty on beer was cut. To qualify as a microbrewery fewer than 30,000 barrels a year must be produced.

Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide, published by Camra (Campaign for Real Ale), says: "Microbreweries are a great success story. This revival is being driven by a desire to try more locally produced real ales. People are fed up with tasteless, massproduced beers.

"There is great care and passion in the creation of these beers and the brewers will often know exactly what field the hops and barley they are using have come from. For many of these brewers it started as a hobby and became a business."

In London, which was once one of the world's greatest brewing centres, the number of new breweries has almost doubled in the past year to 42. Microbreweries have also sprung up on farms, industrial estates and in pubs themselves where they are more accurately known as nanobreweries. It's a return to the days, centuries ago, when most beer was brewed on pub premises.

As a result of this modern real ale revolution there are now almost 1,200 breweries in the UK, which is a 70-year high. Drinkers now have a choice of more than 5,000 British beers.

Yet it is all happening amid a backdrop of declining beer sales and pub closures. Real ale, which still accounts for only 20 per cent of the market, is the only sector that is growing. These beers ferment in the cask and there's now a huge the cask and there's now a huge variety, including pale ales, lighter golden ales, stouts and flavoured beers.

It's not just the newcomers that are challenging drinking habits; some older established microbreweries have expanded. The first successful example was Litchborough Brewery founded by Bill Urquhart in 1975 in the Northamptonshire village of the same name. He was the final head brewer at Phipps Brewery when it was closed by owners Watney Mann to make way for a Carlsberg lager plant.

Truman's was the victim of the gradual decline in the British brewing industry [GETTY]

We will be true to the best of the old Truman's principles but also use advances in brewing to create new beers

James Morgan

Dark Star in West Sussex, which started life in 1994 in the cellar of the Evening Star pub in Brighton using equipment only marginally bigger than a home-brew kit, now operates from a brewery producing 15,000 barrels a year.

Across the Atlantic there has been a similar explosion in small, independent "craft breweries". Today the US boasts more than 2,000 breweries, up from barely 50 in 1980.

It is hoped that the explosion in microbrewing here will help reverse the decline of the British boozer by tempting more drinkers.

Greater awareness about drink driving, cheap supermarket beer and the smoking ban have all been blamed for the slump.

It has also been claimed that some pubs were their own worst enemy, offering a limited selection of beer, a dodgy wine list and ropey food. Latest figures show that pubs are closing at the rate of 26 a week although that trend is now thought to be slowing down. About 4,000 pubs remain in the UK and, like the new breed of brewers, the survivors have learned to be innovative and adaptable.

Protz adds: "All the evidence suggests that the growth of microbreweries is helping pubs to prosper. These days pubs must offer something special because there is so much competition, including coffee chains.

"You now see pubs running beer festivals and other events while others double as the local shop or post office."